What A Boy Wants
by Dysdaimon
Summary: Several months after the events at the Phelps's farm, Huck intends to head West before Aunt Sally forces him back into the rules and restrictions of society. However, Tom is not willing to let his best friend leave so easily.  Tom/Huck
1. Chapter 1: Declaration

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters and I am also not affiliated with Mark Twain's books or the content of those books (_The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, _etc.). This is a simple fanfiction of a fantasy. I adore Tom x Huck and only wish to share my interests with the readers. Thank you and enjoy.

Chapter 1: Declaration

It hain't been even one year ever since Tom and I plann'd out that scare on Tom's Aunt Sally and Uncle Silas, but Tom, he hain't ever mention it not once, always talkin' about the latest adventur book he been readin. Mind you, I got no trouble with that, by and by, days were kept busy. Once it was oficial that Aunt Sally'd be adoptin me, I felt all the worry stir up in my stomach agin. It ain't no way for me to live, sivilized and whatnot, and I'd a been in the Injun lands West faster 'an a bullet if Tom hain't catched me that day about to hop on my raft and leave.

"Huck Finn, are you contempting to run off and disappear?" Tom says to me all serius-like, hands on his hips, lookin' to all the world like a nanny scoldin' the chil'ren.

"I sho' don't know what that fancy nonesuch was that you just said, Tom, but I'ma be escapin' before Aunt Sally gets 'roun to stuffing me in clothes so stiff I can barely get a whiff o' air!" I says back, jumping on the raft and about to push offa there with my left foot.

"You get back here, right now, Huckleberry!" Tom shout real loud and springs like a rabbit or sumthin' real fast and hoppy like that, and he grab my foot before I can rightly push off, which just knocked me clean off the edge of the raft and into the water.

I come up out of the water all a-fire an' brimstone, making to lick Tom good for that, when I sees him with the pleedingest look on his face I ever did see on him.

"Why you always hafta be runnin' off like that, Huck? Gosh darn it, why can't you just stay in one darn place!" Tom yells, an' I can see his eyes all a-watering and he being about to cry or holler some more, both of which I can't say I like much, 'specially not from Tom.

"Shoot, Tom," I says to him as I wayded out of the water and sit down on the bank of the river, "What's the matter with you today?"

"What's the matter with—How you talk, Huck Finn!" he says back vishusly, "You be the one making to run away agin and you ask _me_ what's wrong? Ain't you got a head, or s'it just filled with cotton and junk?"

"I got my rightful reasons and such to be runnin', Tom, but I don't see the sense in such orneryness from you, why, hain't you been doin' just fine while you thoughts I was dead?" I shout back, not really wantin' to ruffle Tom's feathers any more, but not liking his speech to me much either way.

"You as dumb as mule sumtimes, Huck. We was all worrying sick over you when we first heard of you bein' dead and murdured, and ain't nobody right in St. Petersburg after that! Why you think I get sent off to Aunt Sally's in the first place? I was the worst one of them lot! I hain't been eating or sleeping rightly ever since I thought yous got killed and not a body could'a found your dead corpse. After Doc Robinson was killed we hain't got a decent doctor in town no more, so nobody knows a thing to help me, save for Aunt Polly, who sent me off here for a while to get me away from all the 'trama' or sumthin' such as that. I was so darn happy to see you alive, Huck, I couldn't barely say a single stupid thing! An' now here you are, tryin' to dis'pear agin!"

Tom was tearin' up more, but I knows it was mainly 'cuz he was angry at me for tryin' to leave him behind. I didn't think I could'a come up with nothing good to say then, what with Tom being so steamin' mad.

"But, Tom—" I tries it anyway.

"But nothin', Huck!" he cut in, "You get your huge adventurs on the Mississippi River and don't give a gripin' hoot about the rest of us! You—"

"Oh, bleedin' corpses, Tom! I'll stay, alright? Just don't go yelling at me like that no more, yous the only friend I have now that Jim left for to go lookin' for his family and yous most to likely will be the only friend I have for a long time," I says to him, all tired of this. I don't need to be quality to see that my leaving ain't gonna do anyone much good but for me. An' I sho' can't stand it when Tom looks so upset-like at me. It was even worser than when the Widow Douglas used t'be disappointed in me and look it.

Tom stopped with his mouth hangin' open like that, for all the bugs to fly into. He most to likely been expectin' a longer fight or somesuch with me before he get his way, but I don't like to argue with Tom none, and I 'spect he'd a won in the end anyway.

"So, if you're stayin' Huck, I'ma be stayin' here, too, near the Phelpses' farm, 'course. Aunt Polly already had a mind or two to move here anyways, says St. Petersburg was full of bad happenins' as of lately, so she would ruther live in a little town like this one near her sis," Tom was back to normal in a sec, and you could'a almost thunk he never been yelling at me this whole time.

"What do you 'spect me to do, then, Tom? I don't think I can take being sivilized agin', not by nobody," I says to him, all a-worrying about the Phelpses' agin.

Tom grins at that and says I can just go crazy when lessons an' such are over, and we can still get our money from Judge Thatcher back in St. Petersburg if we wanted it. I says no to that, since I don't be needing that kind of headache on top of all the 'sivilizing I gotta put up with later for Tom's sake. 'Sides, I already gave all o' the money I got from the treasure to Judge Thatcher. Tom, he says he'll get his money sent over, and when we's was all growned up, he'd build a house with it just for his friends and him only.

"I 'spect you'd be mighty bored since it'll be just you and me in that there house all the time, Tom," I says, lying down on the riverbank grass to dry off my clothes that were still wet, "There ain't too much kids in this town."

"That's fine, since you still don't get it, Huck, I'ma be mercyful an' tell you just this once, 'cuz you can be so bullheaded sumtimes," Tom says as he sits down on the grass next to me.

"What you goin' on about this time, Tom Sawyer," I says, peering over at him. He was lookin' at me, too, but it warn't no reg'lar look of his and I felt more than a little scared.

I turned away a bit, to take a look at sumthin' less weird, and before I knows it, Tom was sitting on top of my waist, smiling like he just founded another loot of treasure or some such.

"Tom, get—"

His lips were on mine and I was cut off mid-saying and mid-breathing, too. If I had a mind, it sho' warn't working well, desertin' me like that. I couldn'ta moved even if I wanted to, though, on account of Tom pinning my arms down besides my head.

That kiss lasted what seemed like ages, but it sho' warn't no more than just a minute or two. Tom finally let up on my mouth, an' I ain't never been so su'prised before in my life. Like I just says though, my mind don't seem to work at all with stuff like this, so I just lays there all a-frozen under Tom's body.

"Listen carefully, Huck, 'cuz if you make me repeat this I'll lick you, good," Tom says, lickin' his lips an' wiping his mouth with his hand. Oh, I was listenin' alright.

"Huckleberry Finn, I, Tom Sawyer, de-clares to you here, besides this here's body of water, that I _love_ you, Huck, no if's, and's, or but's about it!"

If my mind don't feel like 'twas workin' day before, it well might've burst to pieces at that. Tom Sawyer in love with me! Well, ain't that sumthin'!

To be continued…

(You will have to pardon the wait for the next chapter, as I am unable to make any promises of solid deadlines. Thank you very much for your patience and for taking the time to read my fanfiction.)


	2. Chapter 2: Old Hurtings

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or is, in any way, affiliated with Mark Twain's books or the content of those books (**_**The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, **_**etc.). This is a simple fanfiction of a favorite pairing of mine. I adore Tom x Huck and only wish to share my interests with the readers. Thank you and enjoy.**

Chapter 2: Old Hurtings

"T-Tom—wha—" I couldn'ta form any sorta proper sentencing at all, and Tom, he don't look like he minded much.

"Hush up, Huck, you heard me, I don't gots to say sumthin' like _that_ twice, it's mighty embarrassin' enough as is," Tom says back, blushin' a little bit.

I still can't make heads or tails out of that confession no ways either, it just come at me too darn fast. I swallow'd an' just kept starin' at Tom, 'cuz he was still on top a me an' his face was ruther close, too.

"…t up," I says quiet-like, on account of my voice breakin' and fadin' like an old person.

"Say it agin, Huck, I couldn't rightly hear you the first time," Tom says as he leans more in and our faces warn't no more apart than a tick's body.

"L-let me up," I says agin, louder, and I sees Tom's eyebrows twitchin' a bit.

"T'ain't every day I get the jump on you, Huck, you gotta let me savor the moment," Tom says, his voice all low and whispery.

Slowly, but thankly, I could move some. After all that surprise, I warn't ready for no more, an' I starts strugglin' hard, tryin' to push Tom off 'fore he does sumthin' weirder. I don't think I ever been so confused in my life, not even when I tears up that letter to the Widow Douglas for Jim's return. Tom warn't letting up any, though, an' when I gots my elbows in place and try to push up, he push back harder, and what with him bein' on top an' all, I was at a disvantage, or so they says.

Nothin', an' I mean, nothin' coulda got me ready and such for what Tom gone and done next. He leans down, all slowly and the like whiles I struggle and he bite my neck, like he was some kinder skeeter. I knows I cry out some, more from shock than nothin' else, an' I start thinkin' to keep my mouth shut tight, 'cuz I yells, and Tom's head snaps up to lookit me, his eyes all a-fire, just starin' at me.

"Gosh darn it, Tom!" I suddenly yells, for he was mighty scary lookin' there, an' I don't reckon I wanna stay on a riverbank in wet clothes no more, "Let me up, 'ready! This ain't stuff you can get away with on gals, an' you go an' do this on me? What you mean by lovin' me, anyhow, ain't it all confunded with this? Two boys can't be lovin' nothing but gals, Tom, so what're you meaning by all of this?"

I hain't hear a single word I says though, 'cuz I just wanted to let out sumthin'. It was getting' mighty uncomfortable inside me without me yellin' at him, I hain't a thought on how to deal with such problems. Tom, though, he heared me loud and clear, 'cuz his eyes turned like ice and he got up, real slow, all the time starin' at me. I sits up myself, to take a good look at him, too. It warn't natural for Tom Sawyers to be silent after a yellin', and mostwise he'da hollered back twice as loud 'til he'da won with voice alone.

"Perfect saphead," I hear Tom mutter beneath his breathin', "Can't learn you a gosh darn thing, Huck Finn! I oughta give you a licking for saying such horse-dung things! 'Course two boys got business lovin' each other, don't you see that Sudom and Gamorra that the preacher always talking 'bout? Those people always love boys and such, I know, 'cuz I sneaked the Bible down and look when Aunt Polly cuffed me for asking!"

"I heard'a that from the Widow, Tom, an' I don't want no fire rainin' on me, 'sides, ain't you got Bessie Thatcher at home?" I think quick, and Tom's been head-over-heels for Bessie for almost two years now, must'a been. I pushed myself off the grass an' stood up, my clothes still plenty wet and clingin'on like I has two skins.

"Me and Becky don't got no more business with each other, Huck, she's gone and get mad at me when I don't talk rightly to no one for months, since I was so upset about you being dead and such. One day she hit me hard and says to me, 'Tom Sawyer, you lookit me right now! If you don't gots a care for me anymore, I'm leaving!' but I don't give no notice for that, 'cuz I was sitting near those hogsheads that you used to sleep in, and it worked me nearly to tears just being there. And Becky, she up and run off all sobbing and I didn't rightly think much of her 'til you asked just now."

I could'a only gape at that, 'cuz I'd been thinkin' Tom wouldn'ta left Bessie for the world. I swallow'd agin, 'cuz my throat was feelin' mighty dry now. Things were just too much an' I was shiverin' from the wet clothes, 'cuz the air was cooler now all a-fault of that sunset. Tom sees this and that ice in his eyes just melt right off, 'cuz he steps closer to me, an' I couldn't move no more back lest I feel like another dip in the river. I turn my face 'round a bit just to see how far I could'a move back an' still be safe, but I prob'ly shouldn'ta ever turned my face away in front of Tom no more, 'cuz he grabs me fast by the shoulders and pull me into his arms, and then puts a hand on the back of my neck to hold my head agains' his cheek. I warn't prepared for nothin' today, and by-and-by these surprises were makin' me feel even more confused. I couldn'ta figured this for the world, but somewheres inside, I can't says that I hate this much. That was prob'ly the worstest confusion of the lot.

"Huck, you keep wearing these wet clothes an' sure as nothing you goin' to get plenty sick," Tom says gently into my ear, an' his tone just made me all a-shiver inside.

"Mighty easy for you to say," I protest, but I don't push away from him no more, 'cuz he really was warm an' the air was gettin' colder, "I don't got no more shirts and pants 'sides this one, Tom, an' Aunt Sally, she gone tan me good when she sees what I'da done to 'em."

Tom don't say nothin' in response again, and that was my signal to try and get away, 'cuz it seems to me he was up to sumthin' strange agin. I get myself out of his arms, but then that darned wind starts pickin' up agin an' I start shiverin' too much to resist when he grabs one o' my s'spenders an' pulls it off to one side.

"I don't needs you to help me undress, Tom, an' I ain't undressin' nothin' off in this coldness," I says, pulling that s'spender up agin, "Let's just get back to the house, then, 'fore Aunt Sally gets worried."

"Nah, go 'head and let her worry, ain't none of my business," Tom warn't behavin' much like Tom no more an' 'fore he coulda stepped closer agin I turn in the way where I reckon'd would be fastest to the house and unfurl my heels, not lookin' back to see if he was followin' or not.

It never ocured to me that Tom'd be faster, shucks, I always thought I was fastest of the boys, Tom included, an' I beat him plenty a times in races, so I blame this on that darn wind and cold, an' my wet clothes makin' me heavy. But I can cuss the wind all I want, it don't change nothin' when Tom jumps on me from 'hind an' we start tusslin'.

"Get… off!" I shouts loud as I kick him in the stomach and knock out his air, but even barely breathin' like that, he still somehow grabs my arms agin an' lies cross-ways atop me, so my legs can't well reach him for another kick.

Tom's panting like a spent dog while he lies atop of me, tryin' to get his wind back, an' I, by-and-by, get tired too, and don't struggle as much.

"You can put up one hell of a fight, Huck," Tom gasps, "but I ain't lettin' you go now."

I'm a-tired out by now, but I still tries to at least give Tom another good kick in the stomach. Hain't no effect, though, the way he's laying over me. I start hollerin' as much as I can, but the river is a ways yet from the Phelps's house, and Tom don't lose no time now. He yank off both of my s'spenders an' pulls the bottom part of my shirt outta my trousers and just starts unbuttonin' while I grab his hands an' try to make him stop. It warn't no use at all, though, and within minutes Tom had my shirt undone and nearly off. I warn't strugglin' much no more, on account of bein' tired and realizin' it ain't much use with Tom the way he is, but I still felt mighty fearful, I hain't a clew what was a-goin' to happen.

Tom he had my bare upper body all shown under the sunset and he just froze there. He don't move a single inch, like someone'd a just turned him off. I heared him breathe in hard, an' then he made a face like he's makin' to kill someone, an' I was a-feared it might be me.

"T-Tom," I was stutterin' bad, an' I wished he'da stop staring at me like that, 'cuz I was scared enough without this, "…Why're you lookin' like that?"

Tom looks up at me now, an' he look like he 'bout to cry agin an' I just don't know what in the nation is wrong with him today, like he got some kinder crazy mind sickness or somesuch.

"Huck," Tom's voice is rough now, an' he almost sound like he was growlin' at me, "when'd you get them scars?"

To be continued…


	3. Chapter 3: Hick'ry an' Touchin'

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or is, in any way, affiliated with Mark Twain's books or the content of those books (**_**The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, **_**etc.). This is a simple fanfiction of a favorite pairing of mine. I adore Tom x Huck and only wish to share my interests with the readers. Thank you and enjoy.**

Chapter 3: Hick'ry an' Touchin'

Oh, so 'twas that. Tom hain't ever seen me half-naked after that day Pap catched me and locked me up in the shack. We used to swim during the warmer days an' usually I'd just be all over bruises, but nothin' much more. I coulda see his eyes runnin' across the scars on my waist from Pap's ol' hick'ry stick that he got mighty handy with during my stay in that shack. There was a lot more on my back, but I ain't about to show that to Tom. Just the one or two on my waist an' he looks maddenin' red.

"Huck, you answer me, where'd a them scars come from?" Tom asked agin' an' I starts thinking of some way to answer that without workin' him up no more.

"Just some ol' lickins from Pap, Tom, you knows that 'ready, I 'spect. Pap don't know what stoppin' is when he drunk up, an' he always gots that hick'ry stick on him when he beat me," I says, real calm and normal-like, so maybe Tom would go along too.

"'Twas from that time he kept you holed up in that cabin, Huck?" Tom says an' I knows I don't gots to answer that question. He 'ready knows.

"Turn over," Tom says, an' I don't wants to, an' I tell him so, but he don't take none of it from me, "Darn you, Huck, just turn yourself over!"

So I do it, slowly though, 'cuz I was hoping he'da get distracted by sumthin' an' I could run off 'fore he sees the rest of them scars. Ain't no Providence on my side today, though, 'cuz the moment I's on my back, Tom pull the shirt clean off my back an' arms and tosses it t'one side. He just keep cussin' under his breathin' as he stares. I ain't had a problem with them scars 'til now, I figur'd it ain't a big deal, but the way Tom goes on 'bout it, you'd a thunk I darn lost a leg or two.

"Tom, why you carin' so much 'bout them ratty scars? They ain't nothing the matter with them, they just scars," I says, an' I try to push up, or flip over, or sumthin'.

"Ain't nothing the matter—I oughta beat some sense into you, Huck, he hurt you like this and you think it ain't nothing the matter? It just ain't darn right, them scars are more'n I learned to count up to, Huck!"

One of Tom's hands touch my back, real gentle-like, and for some reason my skin don't cool down none after his hand touches somewhere else. I warn't too comfortable with lyin' on my belly on the ground none, though, so I says so to Tom, but he warn't payin' much attention to me on account of his bendin' over my back. My neck can't turn 'round any farther or it'd up and snap, but I can see Tom's head getting' closer to my back an' next thing I know, he's lickin' the scars real softly. I don't know what in the nation came over me, but when I feels that first lick, I gasped out loud.

"Heh," I hears Tom an' I can sees that grin on his face though I can't actually see his face, "But dern them scars, Huck, you got skin nicer'n some of them girls, and you ain't half-bad-lookin' for a boy."

"T-thanks," I blurt out on instinct 'fore I realized what I was a-thankin' for an' clam up agin, but too late, Tom heared it an' I was stuck. He run his hand under my stomach like a snake, an' pull me up to a kneelin' seat with his legs under me an' my back touchin' his face. I tries to stand up an' go, like I been doin' for the last ten or so minutes, but by-and-by Tom look like he been getting' used to my breakin' and runnin' 'cuz he holds my waist tight with one arm an' keeps lickin' them scars on my back. My hands were free though, an' I try to pry his arm off, 'cuz for all he was doin' I couldn'ta bring myself to hit him hard no more. It felt bad enough with that first kick.

"Tom," I says, an' he don't respond, "Tom, I's beggin' you,Tom, stop it, I don't know what's the point with all this, ain't it enough to say you loves me? What're you even doin', Tom?"

He finally stops at this, an' it warn't a full stop, it was more of a considerin' stop, like he was tryin' t'think of sumthin' an' it warn't comin' to him.

"Don't you go messin' up how they done it in the books, Huck," he says after a bit, "the girl's always gotta accept it when the hero mop her off her feet or somesuch, an' 'sides, I was askin' Muff Potter some time ago 'bout what the priest meant when he said 'whirly lust and sinful bodies' or somesuch, an' Muff was blamed drunk again so he tells me stuff I ain't never heared any of them ladies or genlmen say 'fore."

"What kinder stuff did he tell yous, Tom?" I asks, wantin' to know though you'da think I'd be thinkin' of other stuff right then and there. I was curious, ignorin' the situation, 'course.

"Can't tell you just like that, Huck, an' Muff was talkin' strickly 'bout a boy and a girl, but I don't think it goan be hard much if it'da been a boy and a boy, 'cuz Muff says the holes are likewise," Tom says, but I don't know heads and tails of what he's sayin' though.

"Shucks, what's that 'spose to mean, Tom? You'd think you'd tell a body," I says, turnin' so I can sees him.

"Huck, if I go a-tellin' you, you gots to stop tryin' to run away from me, then, and you gots to keep your word, or you're a dirty, yaller-livered coward," Tom says in response, wrappin' his arms 'round my waist and rememberin' me what was the problem. If all he gonna do is lick my back, though, I can take it, 'cuz I want to know what Muff says.

"Sure, then, Tom, I won't struggle no more then, but tell me 'ready what Muff said!" I says back, waitin' to know an' getting' all a-jittery.

"Your word, you swears on that oath, Huck?"

"Honest injun, Tom! Tell me!"

"Muff said that when you really want a body, and you can't wait no more to get your hands on it, that's what the priest meant, and he says when you start doin' certain stuff with that body, well, that's the second part, 'cuz first he says you gots to do this—"

An' he move his hands up to my chest where those dark-colored circles are on every boy, 'cept I notice now that mine warn't flat for some reason an' he start touchin' 'em with his fingers, an' the strangest of the strange feelins run up an' down my back an' I can't help my voice no more.

"T-Tom—Ah!—Wha—Ahh!—Oh!—sto—Augh!" I can't say nothin' right no more an' I start feelin' this hot feelin' all over my body. An' Tom, he just kept goin' an' by-and-by I feel that thing down there doin' sumthin' mighty strange. I turn my face down to lookit it, an' by geeminy, it was standin' right up!

Tom, he notice where I look, an' he peer 'round my back an' look for himself, an' I was too a-bother'd with makin' those strange noises to stop him. He stop touchin' my chest an' when I'm sittin' there tryin' to recover my senses, he pull off my britches down to the knees. I push off of him at this, to try an' get away, 'cuz I don't care for nothin' down there to happen, but Tom pushes fo'rard as well, an' I just fall over onto my frontside, and I hold myself up off a-the ground with my arms an' my knees, like I was crawlin' posin', 'cept Tom, he was kneelin' over my back now. He reach fo'rard 'round my hips and start touchin' that thing down there, an' the second he touched it, my body just bucked itself, an' it keep doin' that, 'cuz he was grippin' now an' runnin' his hand up an' down an' squeezin' the top of it with his fingers sometimes. I was all a-frenzy with my voice now an' I coulda barely swallowed properly, so the spit warn't goin' down my throat, but down my chin an' neck.

"Ahhh, ah, Tom—ahh, ah…ahh…" I felt some weird feelin' in my belly an' Tom, meanwhile, warn't sayin' nothin', just goin' up-and-down with his hand.

"Ahh…AAAH!" It warn't nothin' I ever feel 'fore, an' sumthin' that looked a lot like thick milk shot out from the top, an' the feelin' was just so blissful I couldn'ta believed it. My arms couldn'ta hold me up no longer, an' I just let myself drop to the ground, but Tom grabbed me an' put my head down gently. He let go of me then, an' he lower himself back a bit, but he warn't finished yet, it looked like. He ran his hands over the back of me 'til he reach the bottom of my back, an' he let a finger go inside that space in-between them two cheeks that you sit on, an' when the finger stopped, I shuddered, 'cuz it was touchin' some part I knew warn't meant to be touched, but that blissful feelin' hain't gone away yet, an' my body wouldn't move still.

I scream loud.

Tom had pushed his finger into somewheres I couldn'ta thought, an' it was hurtin' mighty badly.

"Oh, hell! Tom! Stop it! Auugh!" I scream, an' Tom pull his finger out right quick, an' I scream agin' 'cuz it hurts either way. I ain't much of a crybaby, an' Pap can answer to that, but this pain ain't nothin' like bein' licked or tanned. It hurt and stung sumthin' fierce an' most of all, it burn like fire, an' I couldn't stop the tears from fillin' up my eyes. But by-and-by I felt somethin' like sleep closin' in, an' for some reason I was mighty tired, an' my eyes just close on their own, an' next thing I know, everythin' went to black.

To be continued…


	4. Chapter 4: Fever Feelings

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or is, in any way, affiliated with Mark Twain's books or the content of those books (**_**The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, **_**etc.). This is a simple fanfiction of a favorite pairing of mine. I adore Tom x Huck and only wish to share my interests with the readers. Thank you and enjoy.**

(My apologies for the wait for this chapter, but I had to check the subtle nuances in Tom's speech, as he is educated, though he still speaks in a fairly informal manner, albeit with better spelling, and I would assume his excessive reading of Romantic adventure novels would give him a larger vocabulary than Huck. Just a short chapter this time, though. I am sorry.)

Chapter 4: Fever Feelings

"…Huck?" I was scared he might be mad at me or somethin', 'specially since he'd been hurting so badly a moment 'fore. It was only when he didn't move or say nothing that I got worried, 'cause Huck was mighty still, even for tiredness. "Hey, Hucky, I'm real sorry about that, Muff didn't say nothing about it hurting so badly."

Huck didn't budge, so I leans over to take a looksee, and my heart done near stop beating. He had tear-lines on his face but his eyes were closed and he wasn't moving at all. I turn him over and wipe off some a' that dirt and tears on his face, and I leans in closely to check if he were breathing, and it made me blow out a whuff of air to see that he was. Sitting back on my heels, I stare at him good and hard for a bit, 'cause I wanted him to wake up, but he stayed that same way. It dawned on me, a little bit later, that he was still mostly underdress, and so I put his shirt back on and pull them pants over it again, and I was making out a idea or two to get him back to the Phelps, 'cause I was trying to decide if I might'nt be strong enough to carry him that entire way.

"It ain't so in all the books, Hucky, that someone'd up and faint in the middle of the loving parts," I says, mostly to myself, "But dern if I'm setting here and ain't doing nothing for you, Huck, I'll carry you back, someway and anyway."

Huck was 'bout as tall as I was, but he hardly ever eats proper all due to his useless Pap and no one taking charity on him, so he wasn't as heavy, and he was plenty slimmed and trimmed. He don't look nothing like his raggedy old man, though, 'cause I always thought he was real nice looking, with the warmest color of brown I ever did see for eyes and his hair as soft as cotton when it wasn't dried with mud and dirt from all the gally-vanting that we do.

I bend down with my back to him and put one of his arms over my shoulder, then t'other, and I grunt a bit as I stand up and hook my arms underneath his legs. He wasn't heavy, but weighty enough to make this tougher'n it looked. I got a few steps, thinking I might'a dropped him soon, but I felt his warm body on my back, and something in that just made me keep going and going. It was dark now, and that cold breeze from 'fore was just bloody freezing now, and I could feel Huck's body trembling a bit on my back. Don't that beat all, I wanted to get at him again, now of all the dern times. I would've, too, if I didn't remember how badly I hurt him earlier, and that made me feel downright mean, like I'd bullyragged him into it, though I sure as sure don't mean that.

By and by I could see the Phelps house's lights on in the distance, most likely looking for us, too. I kept going, and was trying to think up a story to explain away Huck being asleep so deep and dead-like, but I need'nt have.

"…Ugh…T-Tom…?" Huck was barely speaking, and he didn't seem too well either, 'cause the reg'lar Huck would've jumped off'a me by now.

"Hucky, you're awake? How about well enough to stand?" I asked as he stirred a bit on my back. He just groaned in response, and by now I know there something ain't quite right with him. His body was too warm for a person just setting on my back, too, and I didn't dare put him down, 'cause I was sure I wouldn'ta have the strength to carry him up again. Huck soon starts up some mighty strange murmurings, though, and some of it set my blood near a-biling with pi'son.

"…Don't, Pap, I ain't… hurts mighty bad… S-stop, it hurts… Tom ain't goin' to heaven… 'cuz I want him an' me…together… Jim's free… an' I…" I couldn't hear no more from there, 'cause it wasn't anything in the human language, but I heard enough of his Pap from that.

"Dern that Pap of yours t'hell, Huck, if he wasn't dead already I'da kill him myself for hurting you so much," I curse a bit, not caring much even if his Pap's spirit decide to ha'nt me. I reckon I would give him a good licking even if he was dead.

Huck was still muttering crazies when I finally got to the Phelps's back fence, and I was too tired out to climb over it with Huck on my back, so I decide I'd a take a tanning or two, so long as they get Huck to bed and a doc over soon. I holler 'round a bit, 'til I see one of them niggers* running to see what the problem was, and I see it was Nat, so before he starts hollering about witches again, I tell him it's Tom and Huck, and told him to go call for Aunt Sally and Uncle Silas.

They came running out the back door of the house, Uncle Silas looking worried, and Aunt Sally looking furious and relieved, and those two feelings make for the strangest face a body ever did see. When she got closer and see that Huck wasn't right, I could tell she didn't think no more of punishing me, 'cause her face looked almost pale with fear. Uncle Silas got to me first and opened the fence and took Huck off of my back, asking me what in the nation had happened.

"Me and Huck were just playing around and roughing t'other one up, and then we went for a nap, 'cept when I waked up, Huck didn't, and I couldn't get him to wake up, either, so I carried him back here, and that's what took us so long," I rattled off fast so Uncle Silas would get Huck into the house fast, and Aunt Sally hustled me into the house after them.

They sent a nigger off for the doc and he come along real fast, and good for it, too, 'cause Huck wasn't breathing proper no more and Aunt Sally and Uncle Silas was thinking it might be a new sort of fever, 'cause they ain't never heard of a fever that catched a person who was just playing in the open. The doc asked me again and again what happened, and I just kept saying the same thing over and over, 'cept I would add little things here and there, like he had his face near the grass, and he was muttering stuff on the way back, though that part wasn't a lie. The doc just nodded to that, and went back to peering and prodding at Huck, which I didn't quite like even if he was a doc, and eventually he gave Aunt Sally a bottle of medicine, and tells her to give it to Huck twice a day 'til his fever went down. He promised to be back the next day to check up on Huck, and left, leaving Aunt Sally and Uncle Silas to hustle and bustle about Huck.

Uncle Silas carried him up to our room and told me to keep an eye on Huck, and to run and tell him and Aunt Sally immediately if Huck got worse, and I said I would. Aunt Sally, she cried a bit, and gave us both kisses and said she didn't care if she did get sick, 'cause Huck looked like he was suffering too much. Uncle Silas set out some sheets on the ground, and I was to sleep there for the night, so I wouldn't be catching nothing from Huck, but I didn't plan on that. They left by and by and I sat on the bed staring at Huck while he twisted and moaned under the sheets. Aunt Sally and Uncle Silas hain't gotten another bed for Huck, yet, so I could still share one with him and I don't give a dern if I get sick lying next to Huck, and I lays down next to him and hug him, thinking somehow or other, it was my fault that he was sick like this. I kiss him before sleeping, though, and run my fingers over his lips all hot with the fever and sickness.

"I'm sorry, Huck," I whisper, and wipe off some of his sweat on his brow with my sleeve. It made me feel worser when I touch his face a bit before getting back into a more naturly position. He was mighty sick, 'cause the heat was still on my hands even though I had put my hand away. I felt like crying a moment, before Huck murmurs a bit.

"Tom…" he mumbled something unhearable again, then says, "…love you…"

I couldn'ta let go of him, not even if wild horses stamped on me.

To be continued…

*Explanatory Note:

Tom would not know of any other name to address slaves by, and it would not be very Tom-like to call them slaves, since he, like Huck, is far too used to calling slaves by this name (bear in mind that they do not mean the word in any derogatory way (unlike slave owners), it is simply what the two of them have grown up hearing and assume to be normal [like if someone were to grow up hearing an apple being called a watermelon, that's what they would call it until corrected, and unfortunately, there is no one in the antebellum South who would correct the racial slur]). I will apologize if this has offended anyone, and I certainly do not mean to be racist, rather, I only wish to stay as close to Twain's original character's dialect as I possibly can.)


End file.
